The invention concerns an auxiliary handle attachable to an elongated tool handle for tools such as shovels, rakes, pitchforks, hoes and the like.
Tools having elongated handles such as shovels, rakes, pitchforks and the like are the cause of many injuries and even fatalities each year. As shown in FIG. 1, the use of a shovel 10 having an elongated handle 12 according to the prior art requires the user to bend at the waist to effectively use the tool to move or lift bulk material such as dirt, snow, cement and the like. This position is uncomfortable and places a significant burden on the muscles of the back and neck. Rapid fatigue of the user is often the result, thus, limiting the efficiency and length of time one can use such tools. The handle may also lead to neck and back strain (lumbosacral sprain), herniated discs between vertebrae, lower abdominal hernias, as well as other problems normally associated with lifting a heavy load with the back muscles. Furthermore, the increased effort needed to work with tools having handles according to the prior art can lead to a heart attack as is evidenced by the jump in the number of heart attacks which occurs annually during the winter months in regions which receive significant snow fall which must be shoveled.
There is clearly a need for ergonomically improved handles for tools used to move bulk material which relieves the strain on the user""s back, is less fatiguing and more comfortable to use.
The invention concerns an auxiliary handle attachable to an elongated tool handle of a tool to facilitate manual lifting of a working end of the tool. The auxiliary handle comprises an elongated shaft having a contact surface at one end adapted to engage the tool handle. A clamp comprising a clamping piece is attached to the shaft at the one end for clamping the contact surface against the tool handle. A gripping yoke is mounted on an opposite end of the shaft for manual gripping of the auxiliary handle to facilitate lifting of the tool and its load.
Preferably, the clamping piece comprises a contact region adapted to engage the tool handle. The contact region is positioned opposite to and facing the contact surface on the end of the shaft. A pair of flanges extend outwardly from opposite sides of the contact region transversely to the tool handle. A pair of elongated fasteners are mounted along opposite sides of the shaft at the one end, each fastener comprises a first end engageable with the shaft, and a second end engageable with one of the flanges. The fasteners clamp the contact region and the contact surface against the tool handle for retaining the auxiliary handle to it.
Preferably, the contact surface on the end of the shaft comprises a pair of contact faces angularly oriented relatively to one another so as to face a common center or an axis coaxial with the long axis of the shaft. The contact faces contact the tool handle in spaced relation to one another circumferentially around the tool handle. The contact faces may also be angularly oriented relatively to the long axis of the shaft about an axis perpendicular to both the long axis of the shaft and the long axis of the tool handle for orienting the shaft angularly relatively to the tool handle.
The contact region on the clamping piece comprises a pair of second contact faces angularly oriented relatively to one another so as to face a second common center, preferably located on the long axis of the shaft, the second contact faces contacting the tool handle in spaced relation to one another circumferentially around the tool handle.
The clamp allows the auxiliary handle to be adjustably positioned along the length of the elongated tool handle for positioning the gripping yoke at a position allowing manual grasping thereof by a user in a substantially upright posture, thereby reducing or eliminating the potential for back strain.
The invention also contemplates a tool having an auxiliary handle as described above.
It is an object of the invention to provide an auxiliary handle attachable to the elongated handle of a tool.
It is another object of the invention to provide an auxiliary handle which is variably positionable along the length of an elongated handle of a tool.
It is again another object of the invention to provide an auxiliary handle which is angularly oriented with respect to the elongated handle of a tool.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an auxiliary handle attachable to an elongated handle of a tool which allows the tool to be used assuming a substantially upright posture.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon further consideration of the drawings and detailed description of a preferred embodiments which follows.